Halloween season is here, and Globe Aware volunteers can join in the spooky fun. Learn how these customs began and discover the origins of Halloween’s favorite symbols and colors.

The History of Halloween: Why We Celebrate the Haunted Holiday

Discover the origins of trick-or-treating, wearing costumes and other beloved Halloween traditions.

Sept. 29, 2025
By Sarah Lemire
TODAY

Halloween season has officially arrived. Dedicated to all things spooky, Oct. 31 is the one time of year that being a witch, werewolf or vampire is not only allowed, it’s totally encouraged.

But did you ever wonder why we dress up in costumes and go trick-or-treating on Halloween night? How about carving pumpkins or playing pranks?

One of the most beloved holidays of the year, the history of Halloween is filled with a variety of unique traditions. To find out more about the meaning behind some of the most common Halloween activities, TODAY.com asked the experts to break down where these popular customs originated.

Just ahead you’ll find out when the holiday began, as well as other interesting facts, like how Halloween got its name, what the legend of “Stingy Jack” has to do with jack-o’-lanterns, as well as the possible reason behind why we wear costumes and how it might be related to an old Christmas tradition called “Belsnickeling.”

You’ll also learn about Samhain, the Celtic festival thought by many to be the origin of modern-day Halloween, along with why black and orange are the colors that have come to symbolize the holiday.

So, get ready to find out all kinds of fun Halloween trivia facts and by the time you’re done, you’ll be an expert, too.

The History and Origin of Halloween

Many people believe that Halloween began as an old Celtic festival called “Samhain.”Annie Otzen / Getty Images

Many people believe that Halloween originates from an old Druid festival called Samhain. But according to at least one expert, that might not necessarily be the case.

“Scholars, especially folklorists, for the last hundred years or so, have been associating it with ancient Celtic times, saying that there was some festival of the return of the dead on October 31, but that turns out to be bogus,” Henry Ansgar Kelly, research professor specializing in medieval and renaissance studies at UCLA, tells TODAY.com.

According to Kelly, Halloween took root in the U.S. sometime around the 19th century, when the Irish immigrated to America, bringing their traditions and celebrations, including All Saints’ Day, with them.

“All Saints’ Day was a feast day on the Catholic calendar,” says Kelly. “November 1 was the day on which you celebrate all the people that have gone to heaven.”

Kelly explains that the night before All Saints’ Day, people would hold vigils for the souls that hadn’t yet gone to heaven and were trapped in purgatory. In essence, it was night to pray for the dead — and thus Halloween was born.

Lisa Morton, author of “Trick or Treat: A History of Halloween,” views the history of Halloween timeline somewhat differently, citing Christian missionaries who came to convert Irish Celtics and discovered them celebrating Samhain (pronounced SAH-win), a festival celebrating all about ghostly stories and moving into a darker time of year.

“If you look at the Celtic lore that they recorded, some of it is genuinely very scary,” Morton tells TODAY.com. “Even now, some of the stories that the Celts told each other at Samhain are really, really creepy.”

However, she doesn’t totally disagree with Kelly’s thinking. In fact, Morton says that the Halloween we celebrate today is likely a mix of both Samhain and All Saints’ Day.

How Halloween Got Its Name

Defined by the Oxford English Dictionary as the eve of All Hallows’ or All Saints’ Day, the origin of the word “Halloween” has evolved over time.

According to Kelly, the name is a combination of the Scottish words “hallow,” which loosely translates into “saint” or “holy person,” and “een,” which means “evening.”

In essence, Halloween means “holy evening,” which makes sense given its Christian ties. Around 1773, the Scots began combining the two words and referring to October 31 as “Hallow-e’en.”

However, it was Scottish poet, Robert Burns, who combined the words into one in the lengthy 1786 poem, “Halloween,” that ultimately sealed the deal and the name stuck.

Why Do We Trick-Or-Treat?

Trick-or-treating might have been inspired by the Canadians.Aleli Dimaculangan / Getty Images

Fun costume parties and trick-or-treating have become synonymous with Halloween, but according to Morton, that wasn’t always the case.

For many years, she says Halloween was a night devoted to trickery and pulling pranks on unsuspecting people. By the 1930s, the pranks turned into full-blown vandalism, resulting in millions of dollars of damage to major U.S. cities.

“[People] were smashing light fixtures and setting fires and tripping people on sidewalks, and, in 1933, vandals did so much damage it became known as ‘Black Halloween,’” says Morton.

After Black Halloween, many cities contemplated banning the holiday altogether, but instead decided to adopt a popular Canadian tradition. “The idea seems to have been that if you offer treats, the kids won’t go around and play tricks,” says Kelly.

According to Kelly, the idea gained traction in the United States in the ‘30s and ‘40s resulting in today’s Halloween ritual of ringing doorbells and shouting “Trick or treat” in hopes of scoring candy.

The Origin of Costumes

Dressing up in costume might be related to an old custom called “Belsnickeling.”SolStock / Getty Images

Halloween is an open invitation to dress up and play pretend. But where did the concept of wearing Halloween costumes come from?

While many people attribute the practice to the ancient Celts and Samhain, Morton begs to differ, pointing out costumes are a somewhat very modern tradition.

The reason behind exactly why we wear costumes Halloween remains somewhat of a mystery to both Morton and Kelly.

In the 1920s, magazines featured kids draped in sheets pretending to be ghosts, however, Morton says it’s possible that costumes were worn well before then.

In fact, wearing costumes might actually be linked to Christmas and an old custom called “belsnickeling,” where costumed children would perform plays for their neighbors in exchange for treats, not unlike modern-day Halloween.

Why Do We Carve Jack-O’-Lanterns?

Carving pumpkins can be traced back to the legend of “Stingy Jack.”Joachim Smialy / Getty Images stock

Carving jack-o’-lanterns can be traced back to Ireland and the concept stems from the old tale of a man named “Stingy Jack.”

“Jack was a legendary trickster,” Morton tells TODAY.com, noting that there are hundreds of variants of the “Jack” folktales all over the world.

As folklore goes, Jack — a drunkard and evil-doer — cheated death three times throughout his life by tricking the devil out of taking his soul.

When he finally died, Jack was barred from heaven and refused entry into hell by the angry devil. Sentenced to walk through the dark worlds of good and bad for eternity, Jack carries a carved-out turnip with a glowing ember inside to light his way.

Sound familiar? Jack-o’-lantern.

According to the Library of Congress, the “Stingy Jack” story likely inspired the Irish to carve faces into turnips in an effort to ward off evil spirits.

“When the Irish and Scottish came to America, they found these gorgeous native pumpkins and (they) were even better than turnips,” says Morton. Not to mention their size made them easier to carve.

However, the custom of carving pumpkins into jack-o’-lanterns is still relatively new, says Morton.

“It’s a bit of misconception to say that the Irish and Scottish were carving pumpkins 200 years ago,” she explains. “They didn’t have pumpkins 200 years ago. Those are strictly new world fruits that they found when they came here.”

Why Do Orange and Black Symbolize Halloween?

Much like Christmas is associated with red and green, Halloween has its own signature color scheme: Black and orange.

According to Morton, that’s likely because their origin is inspired by the holiday itself, surmising that orange represents pumpkins and black pays homage to the night and other objects commonly associated with Halloween, including black cats and bats.

“Black and orange is recent,” she says. “If you look at (catalogs) from the very early part of the 20th century, they say that brown and yellow are the colors of Halloween.”

Over time, Morton says that decorating companies latched onto the orange and black color theme, “and that seemed to be very popular.”

And the rest, as they say, is history.